Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1887-07-15
CHAPTER AX
FOUND.

CHAPTER NIX.
FOUND.
And now | com u perhaps the StrangeSt
thing that happened to Us IN all that strange
business, and one which shows now won
derfulIy things Hre brought about
! was walking qJcuy along, some way in
front OF tiic O,u,I Two, down the banks of
tn. stream WH.ch ran nom the oasis till il
was Swallowed ~ IN the hungry desert
sands. Wa. u suddenly stopped and rubbed
my eyes, as we'll | might. Inere not TWEEN
u vars IA front placed in q charming stu
alton, under the shade Of species Of fig
trre, and facing 10 The stream was coy
hut quit more 81 Il s. on the kthr principle
OF grass amt Whites. only With fuli-Iength
door instead OF It Dtc-IU4e.
WHAT the dIcEenS, SAID / to myself,
can Il nut DE DOING ncre.' Even as / said
il. the uUbr OF the hut opened, ami there
nmpcd out OF II wAte man clothed in
skins and with an enormous black beard. |
Thought III II / must nave got 4 touch OF the
SUI It was impossible. No hunter ever
came 10 such pace rs tins, Certainly no
hunter Wuu.d ever settle IN II. l stared and
stared, aud 50 uId the other man, and
yI-t al that JuuctUrc Sir Henry and Good
came up.
Look here. you fellows | said lis that
a white man or am | mad?'
Sir Henry looked, and Good lc1aed and
then all of a Sudden the lame white man
came hobblug toward us When he got
close, he feel! down in 4 sort of faint.
With a spring Sir Henry was By his side.
Great Powers" ne cried" 1T is my
brother George
At the sound OF the disturbance another
figure, also clad i'll skins, emerged from the
hat, with gun in his hand, and came ram
ming toward rs. On seeing M he, too, gave
a cry.
"Macumazailn.' he hallo,d. "lon't you
know me, Baas? I'm Jim the BANTER / lost
the note you gave me To giv 10 tie Baas.
and we have been here nearly two years
And the fellow fell at my feet, and rolled
over and over weeping for JOY.
You careless sCouudrcl.' / said; you
ought TO be well hdCd'
Meanwhile the man with the black beard
had recovered and got up, and he and Sir
Henry were punp-handng away at each
! otter. apparently without Il word to say.
But whatever they had quaIreled about in
the past q suspect it was a lady, though |
never asked, il was evidently forgotten
now.
MY dear old fellow" burst out Sir Henry
at last. II thought that you were dead |
have been over SolOmOn's Mountains to find
you, and now | come across you pcrchcd in
the desert like an old aasvOgcl (yulture)."
Il tried To 20 over SOiOmOn'S Mountains
nearly two years ago WI, the answer,
spoken in the hcStatlng voice OF 4 man who
has lIad liilc recent opportunity OF using his
tongue, but when got here, a bOwidcr fell
on my leg and crushed it, and | have been
Then | came up. "liOw do you do, Mr..
NrviIIc?' | said; do you remember me?7
Why" he said, isn't ii Quatermain, ell,
and Good too Hold on Il minute, you teI
lows am getting dizzy again. 1t is all so
very strange, and when Il man has ceased to
hope, SO very happy"
Is.s=s evening, over the campfire, George
Curtis told us his story, which, IN It's way,
was almost as CyenttuI as our own, and
amounted shortly to this A little short Of
hlt. had
da'S kraal, to try and reach the mountains.
As for the note had sent linn by Jim, that
worthy had lost II, and he had never heard
of 1t till to-day. But, acting upon infurma.
ton he had received from the natives he
made, not for Sheba'S Breasts, but for the
laddcrlIlC descent of the mountains down
which we had just come, winch was clearly a
better route than that marked out in old
DOa Sllvcstra5 plan. In the desert he ana
jim suffered great harIShIpS but finally
they reached tins oasis, where 4 terrible ac-
cidcnt betcll George Curtis On the day of
their arrival, he was sitting by the stream,
and jim was extracting the honey from the
nest of a StlugltSS bee. which Is 10 he found
III the desert, ON the top OF tho bank imme-
dtatcly above him In 80 doing he IOosed
b0wIdcr of rock which fell upon George
Curtis right leg, crushing ii trighttully,
From that day he had been so dreadtulv
lame, that he had found it impossible to 90
either forward OF back, and had preferred 10
take the chances ot dying on the oasis 10 the
certainty OF prrShng in the desert.
As Tor food, however, they had got on
plcth well, Tor they mad Il good supply of
Ammunition and the oasis was iTequentcd
especially at night, by large quantities OF
game, which came thitner tor water. These
they shot or trapped IN pitfalls, using their
llcSh tor lOod, aud after Their clothes wore
out, their hides for covering.
And So hc ended We have lived for
nearly two years, like u second Robinson
trusoe and his man Friday, topping against
nope that some native might come here and
help us away, but none have come. Only
last night we settled that Jim should leave
me, ana ny 10 reach Nltlnda'S kraal and get
assistance. lie Was 10 go tomorrow but |
had little hope oI seeing linn back again.
Ana now You, OF al people IN the world,
You, who | ldncird hat hong ago forgotten
All ABOUT me, and were living comfortably in
uld r.ngGnd, turn up IN 4 prumIscuuuS way
and nllu me where You least expected. 1T IL
the most wonderful thing | ever heard Of,
and TIE most mcrCItul too. y
Then Str Henry set to work and told him
the main facts of our adventures, sitting till
late IN the night to do it.
by Jovr.' he said who. | showed him
some of the diamonds, well. at least You
have got something t9r your pains, besides
my worth r~~ self
Sir Hem, laughed. They belong to
Quatemain aud Good. 1t was part of the
bargain that they should share amy Spoils
there might he
This remark set me thinking, and having
spoken to Good | told Sir Henry that it was
our unanimous wish that he should take
third share of the diamonds, or if he would
not, that his share should be handed to his
brother, who had suffered oven more than
ourselves on the chance of getting them.
FINALLY, We prevailed upon him to consent
10 this arrangement. but George Curtis did
not know Of it till some time attcrward.
4 Al
fniSh this history. Our journey across the
desert back To Sitandas kraal was most
arduouS, especially rs we had to support
George Curtis, whose right leg was very
weak indeed, and continually throwing out
SpliuteTS of bone; but we did accomplish it
somehow, ana TO give its details would only
he TO reproduce much of hat had happened
Ia us ON the former occasion.
Six months from the date of our rearriyal
at Sltanda'S, we found our guns and other
goods quite safe, though the old SCOundrel in
charge was much disguised ut our surviving
To claim them, saw us all once more safe and
sound Mt my little place ON the Berea near
Durham, where | am now writing and
whence bid farewell 10 all who have ac-
Colnnaned me throughout the strangeSt trip
| ever made in the course of a long and
varied experience.
just as had written the last word IA
fir came up my avenue of OrauEc-treeS with
tctttl IN a cleft stick which he had
brought from the post. 1t turned out t. be
from Sir Henry, and as it speaks for itself,
give il in full.
"BnyIey Hall, Yorkshire.
MY DEAR QJATERMAlN,-l sent you
line few mails back to say that the three
OF us, George Good, and myself, fetched IN
all right in England. We got off the boat at
southampton, and went up to town. You
should have seen what a swell Good turned
out the very next day, beautifully shaved,
trock coat fitting like a glove brand new
eyeglaSs, etc, etc. | went and walked in
the park with him. where | met some people
knew, and ut once told them the story of
his beautiful legs
He Is furious, especially as some ill.,
naturrd person has printed il in 4 society
paper.
To come to business Good and took the
diamonds to Sueeter'S to be valued as we
arranged, and am really afraid to tell vou
what they put them at it seems 50 enor-
luGuS They say that of course its more or
less guess work, rs such stones have never
10 their knowledge been put on the market
III any thing like such quantities. Ii appears
that they are with the exception of one or
TWO OF the largest OF the finest water and
equal III every way 10 the best Brazilian
stones | asked them il they would buy
them, but they said ii was beyond their
power In do 50, ana recommended us to sell
10y degrees, tor teT we should flood the
market They offer, however, a hundred
and eighty thousand for a small portion of
them.
You must come home, Quatemain. and
see ABOUT these things especially il You in
SYST upon making the magnificent present of
the thiru share, which does not belong TO
me, 10 my brother George. As Tor Good, he
Is no good. His time is too much occupied
IN shaving, and other matters connected